Monaco travel guide

We’re visiting Monaco.

We will take you on some city bus rides, wewill walk around show you the palace, the Casino, the Marina and the beautiful sightsof this amazing little country, starting out from our home base in the city of Nice inthe south of France.

It's a very convenient city to explore thenearby areas of Provence as well as Monaco.

We’re staying in Nice for 3 days and havingall sorts of fun excursions.

So from our hotel in the old town we simplywalk about 15 minutes through the old town.

That’s a terrific place, the old town ofNice, with shops and cafés everywhere, and that brings is right over to the bus stop.

And this bus is an amazing bargain, it's only2 euro and it will bring you from one country to the next.

The bus is heading for Menton, which is theend of the line.

We’re only going part of the way, abouta half-hour bus ride to Monaco.

Stopping for a view of the old port of Niceand passing several other little harbors along the way.

and it will bring you from one country to the next.

The bus is heading for Menton, which is theend of the line.

We’re only going part of the way, abouta half-hour bus ride to Monaco.

Today's adventure winds along the easternshores of the Côte d'Azur where you'll discover several small seaside towns and a tiny countrywith the world's richest inhabitants.

We are riding on the city bus.

It's a handy way to get around, and to drivealong the coastline.

You can take the train if you wish, or youcan take the bus.

We are riding on the city bus.

It's a handy way to get around, and to drivealong the coastline.

You can take the train if you wish, or youcan take the bus.

So the brief bus rides linking each placeare easy to handle and will give you excellent access to some of the sites.

This little green traffic circle marks theboundary of Monaco.

We've entered the country now — there's nopassport control of course, there's no sign of a border.

We’re just driving along on the road innow we’re in Monaco, through the tunnel and driving alongside the marina, it's a beautifulsite.

Very easy to get from central Nice to centralMonaco by bus — easier than by train actually.

This program will focus on the two main areasfor the visitor: The old town and Monte Carlo with the casino and elegant shopping area.

They even have ducks swimming around in theirpond with little ducklings.

Some beautiful gardens out in front of thecasino You will inevitably be drawn straight to theCasino, so when we get there let me tell you a little about it.

The Casino played a very integral part inthe recent history of Monaco.

That was put up in about 1850, 1860.

The country was really bankrupt at that time.

That's when they came up with the bright ideaof building a casino, and by 1860 it was in operation, and the train came by 1860, that'swhen it opened.

So that all worked in its favor.

So now the rich folks started flocking toMonaco by the 1890s.

Of course Nice was a big magnet with the hotelsand everything, and they would come over here to gamble, and they've done very well eversince.

So now Monaco is the most densely populatedcountry in the world.

It's not the most densely populated city inthe world.

There's many, there's 20 other cities in India, China that are more densely populated, but it's got 28, 000 people packed into 500 acres, half the size of Central Park.

It's pretty small, just over a mile from oneend to the other, and yet packed in.

You can see all these condominiums.

So 28, 000 residents, but only 7000 of themare citizens.

The others are just living here.

It's the richest country in the world percapita.

The highest per-capita wealth and highestper-capita income in the world.

They've got a number of hotels.

Some of them are two-star.

They even have a one-star hotel.

They do, they have a one star hotel.

Five stars of course.

The Hotel de Paris is very exclusive.

They don't even like you going inside unlessyou are a guest.

Three Michelin stars.

Of course that's the top rating.

And so dinner for two with a nice bottle ofwine is $1000 easily in there.

From the casino we are walking over to thebus stop a couple of blocks on this beautiful Avenue des Beaux-Arts, a wonderful shoppingstreet.

And there we will catch the city bus thatwill bring us up the hill to the Old Town.

Driving through the modern town.

Notice how beautiful it is.

The buildings are in great shape, the storesare elegant, you don't find any vacant shops here or potholes in the road.

We are riding the city bus right through thetown up to the hill instead of walking up – you could walk it if you want, but it'spretty steep, so you might as well get on a city bus – it costs two euro for a ride, and it's good for 30 minutes, you could actually ride up to have a quick peek and ride backdown, enjoying this view.

Of course you will want to stay up on topas we're going to do and walk around the Old Town.

Practically everybody rides the bus.

There are 146 bus stops, so it's very convenient.

A couple of euro for a ride like this is nobig deal when you're visiting Monaco, after all this is an expensive place so you shouldbe expecting to spend some money here.

But if you don't want to pay the bus fareand you don't want to walk up the hill there is another possible route for you to get upthere, and that's an elevator but it's inside the public parking garage, so you'd have tofind your way into the garage and find your way to the elevator and then just ride itup a level and right up to the old town.

But that's kind of a hassle so just go aheadand pay the fee and ride the bus and enjoy the ride up to the Old Town.

You can always walk down the hill later comingback if you want to economize.

And in a few minutes you arrive at the OldTown, hop off the bus, and there are some local kids being escorted from the pre-school.

The sights are happening already.

Get to walk through these cobbled lanes ofthe Old Town.

This is where Monaco first began, that wasway back in the 1300s and 1400s up on this little hilltop.

And it brings you to this lookout point – wow, what a view.

This has to be one of the great views of theworld.

Perfect place for a group photograph.

This lookout is right next to the Prince’sPalace which is the official royal residence of Monaco.

Albert the 2nd is the reigning monarch ofMonaco having succeeded his father Prince Renier in 2005.

Albert is one of the richest monarchs in Europe, estimated worth at about $1 billion, and he's married to Charlene, the Princess of Monaco.

She was a South African commoner but an Olympicswimmer, and married since 2011 to Prince Albert.

You’ll find that this terrace, the Placedu Palais, is a fun place to hang out.

And so is the best view from right in frontof the palace, sweeping, amazing collection of beautiful condominiums.

You’ll notice how densely packed this cityis.

There are three main pedestrian streets thatrun in parallel out from the Place du Palais, and they are crisscrossed by some narrow alleysthat tie it all together, all around the Cathedral.

The old town is just as attractive in itswalls and buildings as any of the other rock villages of the Riviera.

This is a residential neighborhood as well, not just for the tourists, but very much for the locals.

Notice the winding streets, and the odd mopedand scooter that comes down here, so you can keep your ears open.

Place de la Marie is where the three pedestrianlanes of the Old Town come together.

And just a few blocks away is the Cathedralof Monaco.

The Cathedral of St.

Nicholas is a grand Romanesqueand Byzantine style edifice that was designed and completed in 1897.

The burial chapel of the royalty here includesthe tomb of Princess Grace.

Grace Kelly, the beautiful American actress, married Prince Renier in 1956, then retired from acting and became Princess of Monacountil her death in 1982.

She suffered a stroke while she was drivingher car and lost control and crashed.

It was a great tragedy, great loss of GraceKelly, who was named as one of the top female stars of the American cinema by the AmericanFilm Institute, and certainly was one of the most glamorous ladies in our history.

After appreciating that neo-Romanesque façadeof the cathedral be sure to walk a few paces in front of it for the view looking down onthe newest part of Monaco.

This was all built on landfill – about 20%of Monaco is built on landfill like this.

Here we have a mix of residential, sportscomplex and marina, it makes a beautiful view.

The view terrace is slightly hidden but it'seasy to find when you're looking for it and it's only a few steps down.

Return past the Cathedral and the Palace ofJustice and that lane in-between and it'll bring you back into the pedestrian networkfor some more final views of town.

Not very crowded in November.

In the summer, these lanes get very packedwith the tourist.

There's no income tax on the citizens.

There's also no income tax on foreigners wholive here at least six months a year.

It's an autonomous nation, it's a sovereignnation.

They have a seat in the United Nations.

But their military defense is taken care ofby France.

And they really have diversified from tourismand gambling.

They have a lot of conventions going on here.

There's actually some scientific research, there is an excellent hospital.

The economy will surprise you.

You might think that all of the revenues aregained from the gambling casino and related gambling ventures, but actually gambling representsonly 3% of the nation's revenue for GDP.

They have a very diverse economy based ontrade and banking, finance, property, and tourism of course.

You'll probably find you’re ready to payfor the bus ride back downhill as well because after walking around in the Old Town you’relittle worn out.

It's not a very big Old Town but there area half-dozen streets, there is the palace, there's a cathedral, there are things to seeand you want to explore the whole area while you're there.

Even the young rich schoolgirls ride the citybus here.

And you get some lovely views from the bus.

Here is the marina at twilight as we whizby these wonderful yachts.

We will be taking the 30 minute intercitybus ride back to Nice in a little while but first we’re going to have our final lookaround the town in the evening — a beautiful view of the casino at night.

It's easy to walk from the casino across thepark over to this lovely shopping mall.

It's part of the Metropole complex, one ofseveral deluxe, very-modern shopping centers in the middle of Monaco.

By the time we came out of the mall and wentacross the street to have another look at the casino it was dark already – lovelylighting at twilight and early sunset, a great time to be here.

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